One Thing Is Needful

Picture a hard-driving business owner who collapses in the middle of a workday. Lying there, sure he is dying, his first thought is whether the business and his family will be okay without him. In the months of recovery he sees something he never noticed: his whole life was a checklist, and even laughing with his son had started to feel like a waste of time.

Martha would have understood. She was working hard for Jesus, and it was good work. But Jesus said to her, “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

Diligence is a gift. But a life that can only be measured in boxes ticked has missed the one thing. Sitting with Jesus. Being with people. Ecclesiastes says there is “A time to weep, and a time to laugh.” Laughter is not irresponsible. It is part of a life lived before God.

Don’t wait for a collapse to find that out. Choose the good part today.